


the knack to flying

by stormwarnings



Series: fairy skies and pretty eyes [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magic, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, andrews very gay, more thunderstorm love, soft, some good book/movie references, tea is always good, va love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24949792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormwarnings/pseuds/stormwarnings
Summary: And then the two dumbasses are soaring around, and the clouds are rumbling, and Andrew isn’t really sure how he got here, but he thinks he’s okay with it. He tilts his head back and watches as they climb higher and higher, Kevin with his perfect posture and Neil careening around like some kind of young god.
Relationships: Kevin Day & Andrew Minyard, Kevin Day & Neil Josten, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: fairy skies and pretty eyes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805626
Comments: 3
Kudos: 66





	the knack to flying

**Author's Note:**

> promise im working on the other story but this is soft and nice and i really wanted to write it lmao enjoy

They’re sitting on the porch of Bee’s house. There’s a storm moving in, and Andrew is letting water from the air drip from his fingers and into a mug.

Kevin is talking about Lord of the Rings. It’s his latest non-magic kick. Andrew won’t admit that it’s interesting, and Kevin won’t shut up, so they’re at a bit of an impasse.

Neil’s just watching. Neil doesn’t really seem to know what to do with the sheer amount of _geek_ that emanates from Kevin at all times, but Andrew has decided that’s not his problem. After all, Kevin was the one who brought Neil here.

Neil sits up suddenly. “Thunder,” he says, alert and awake and alive.

Andrew hates Neil with every fiber of his being. He hates Kevin too, for binding the three of them together. Kevin doesn’t have nightmares as much anymore, but Neil has them every night, and Andrew can feel the terror, sparking down the colored lines that are _Kevin-gleaming-safe_ and _Neil-lightning-bright_ in his mind. It’s weird and something that Andrew feels like he shouldn’t be ok with, but they both shine with _trust_ , and that feels like a fragile gift.

Kevin inhales suddenly. “I bet you could fly, right now,” he says.

“No,” Andrew says instantly, because whatever idea Kevin has, it’s probably a bad one.

They both ignore him, because neither of them has any goddamn common sense.

“I’ve never tried,” Neil says. “But maybe.”

“What better time than the present,” Kevin announces gleefully, and drags Neil onto his feet.

Andrew follows them at a safe, uninterested distance, even though he is very interested to see how badly this goes.

Kevin halts. “Wait,” he says. “I’ve got an even better idea.” He rushes back towards the house.

Neil stands next to Andrew, who’s got his arms crossed and is watching the storm. “How far is it?” Neil asks.

Andrew blinks. “You’re the one who controls lightning.”

“I’m new here,” Neil points out.

Andrew huffs and rolls his eyes, and then pulls out his phone. He clicks the weather radar app and hands it to Neil. “Look at that magic.”

“Huh,” Neil says. “Neat.”

Andrew’s pretty sure Neil doesn’t have a phone. From the way Neil’s holding the phone, Andrew isn’t even certain Neil has _ever_ had a phone.

Neil hands it back quickly. “Do you think I can fly?”

Andrew’s about to say, _I don’t fucking know, why are you asking me_? But then he thinks about it, and says, “I’m pretty sure you already have.”

“Huh,” Neil says again.

Kevin comes back carrying, of all things, Bee’s broom.

“No,” Andrew tells him. “Bad idea.”

“Pfft,” Kevin says, and then twists his hands in some sort of Doctor Strange motion. (God, Andrew regrets ever taking him to see that movie.) He straddles the broom.

“She’s a witch,” Andrew deadpans. Then, “You know, witches originally riding brooms was supposed to be representative of them riding Satan’s dick.”

Kevin shoots him a glare. “I’m a sorcerer,” he says haughtily. “And you’re just jealous you can’t fly.”

“I don’t like heights,” Andrew reminds him.

“You don’t?” Neil asks, sounding a little surprised.

Andrew raises an eyebrow at him.

Neil smiles a little. “I thought Kevin was kidding.”

The Kevin in question is currently rising into the air. “Your turn, Neil,” he calls.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” Neil mutters. Then, louder, “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know!” Kevin’s slowly getting higher and higher. “I don’t have elemental magic!”

“Well,” Neil says, “What’d you do?”

There’s a profoundly embarrassed silence from Kevin. “I just put a levitation charm on the broom,” Kevin finally says, barely audible.

Andrew glances up. Kevin’s a good distance up now, and still seems to have no clue what he’s doing.

Andrew sits down. This is better than reality TV.

From Neil, there’s a sudden burst of magical energy. When Andrew looks, Neil’s eyes are even more vividly blue than they normally are.

Andrew quickly stares at something else. There’s plenty of other good things to stare at, he tells himself. Like the incoming storm. _Oh, shit._ Kevin’s going to get struck by lightning.

“You’re going to get struck by lightning,” Andrew calls to Kevin, endeavoring to sound lazy and uncaring.

Kevin lets out a startled yelp, and the broom drops about five feet.

“You should probably go help him,” Andrew says to Neil, who’s…vibrating? No, Andrew realizes. It’s more like he’s flickering, like heat mirages on asphalt, on humid afternoons before the storm breaks.

“Aren’t you going to help him?” Neil asks.

Andrew snorts. “No.”

“What do I do?” Neil asks Andrew. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

Andrew glances him over. He’s flickering more intensely now, and his voice doesn’t sound quite normal. “You seem to be doing quite fine on your own,” Andrew replies honestly. “I don’t know, jump or something. The knack to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss, after all, isn’t it?”

Neil stares at him, a tiny little furrow in his brow. “What?”

Andrew sighs. “Never mind.”

“No, wait,” Neil says. “Maybe you’re on to something.”

“What,” Andrew replies. “No, what, it’s a quote from a book, you idiot – ”

Neil jumps and somehow, _somehow,_ he doesn’t slam into the ground like Andrew was expecting. “It worked!” He exclaims jubilantly, hovering. He shoots up towards Kevin like fucking Peter Pan, and Andrew absolutely hates him. He hates Kevin too, who has finally worked out how to control the broom. (Barely.)

And then the two dumbasses are soaring around, and the clouds are rumbling, and Andrew isn’t really sure how he got to this moment in time. He tilts his head back and watches as they climb higher and higher, Kevin with his perfect posture and Neil careening around like some kind of young god.

God, Andrew hates them.

Absently, he glances at the weather radar on his phone. The storm is moving closer, the wind ushering it along; it’s blown up into a good red cell.

He digs his hands into the dirt of the hill. There’s water above and water below, and he sinks into his awareness of it, leaving a little bit of his conscience on the hill while the rest of it delves deep below, into the tiny springs and trickles of water that branch under the fields.

Then Kevin pulls up in front of him, startling him back to himself.

“What do you want?” Andrew asks waspishly. “If you get Bee’s broom wet, she’s not going to let you help her with potions for a while.”

“Yeah,” Kevin says. “We should probably go in.”

Neil thumps into the ground next to him, breathless. 

“I see you haven’t mastered the landing yet,” Andrew says.

“That was so fun,” Neil says, bubbling with excitement. His curls are windblown, and his eyes are still so blue, and he really does look more like he belongs in the sky than tethered to the ground.

He and Kevin bicker as they start walking back. Andrew tunes them out, mostly, until Neil goes, “Oh, shit,” and it starts pouring.

They sprint for the porch. Neil outpaces Kevin and Andrew and gets there first, laughing and smiling and soaking wet.

Andrew looks at Kevin, who’s still holding the broom.

“Oops,” Kevin says.

They leave the broom on the porch and then hurry inside as the rain and wind start to lash the side of the house. Thankfully, Bee’s not home, so she doesn’t see them dripping all over the kitchen floor. Andrew goes about making tea for Kevin and Neil, and hot chocolate for himself. Neil stares out the window, unable to take his eyes off the storm. The rain pounds on the roof, relaxing and quiet, and Andrew wants to call this _happy._

Kevin breaks the silence when Andrew hands him a mug of tea. “We should watch Lord of the Rings.”

“Goddamnit,” Andrew says.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr](https://stormwarnings.tumblr.com/) its new and idk what to do with it please help me sooo anyway love yall hope you enjoyed this :)


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